Picking Scabs
by Music Freak
Summary: The return of old rival old opens old wounds that threaten to tear Deuce and Cleo apart. Cleo/Deuce Cleuce
1. What Ever It Is, Let It Go

Picking Scabs

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><p>Notes: All right, back from my hiatus with a new fanfic. I'm also in the middle of turning 'Being Stupid' into a comic.<p>

My fanfics more follow the continuity in the Diaries with Draculaura being fearleader before Frankie was and Clawdeen never joining.

Disclaimer: Monster High is the intellectual property of Mattel and I am as of this moment unaffiliated. Coppelia is my creation, though. Based of the wind up doll in the ballet "Coppelia".

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><p>Chapter One: Whatever it is, let it go<p>

"And, remember, support the flyer on your chest, not your arms." Cleo fiddled with the whistle around her neck as she surveyed her fearleaders. "We don't wait another a trip to the ER." She stared pointedly at Frankie who frowned.

"I said I was sorry." She knelt down for Draculaura to support her weight on her shoulders when she lifts her up in the air.

Cleo watched over the multitude of young ghouls in her squad. It had taken a lot of work to get the ghouls at school trust her again and join the team. Of course, it didn't hurt that most of them were fleshmen who had no idea what she was like. Downside was- a young pixie wobbled before falling backward off her partner's shoulders- they needed a lot of work.

"Pretty sorry bunch you got there, Twice Defeated." Cleo rolled her eyes. She didn't even have to turn around to know who it was.

"Oh, hello Copperplated. I didn't know you got back from Russia." She answered over her shoulder. "What brings you here? Oh! Wait, wait. Let me guess." She tapped her chin in mock thought. "You've come to tell me you've decided to finally get a life and leave me alone?"

Frankie glanced over Draculaura's head. "Who's that Cleo's talking to?"

"Hm?" Draculaura looked up. She recognized porcelain white metal skin and permanently en pointe feet instantly. "Oh, that's Cece." She answered. "She's the captain of the Cybernetics Tech fear squad. You know, the robot school?" Draculaura launched into the air in a perfect arabesque with her arms straight and one leg out. A crowd of JV fearleaders 'ooh'-ed as she cartwheeled off of Frankie's shoulders, finishing in a liberty lift.

"You know how Cleo gets some times?" Frankie nodded, remembering that time Cleo made her do laps by back flipping around the track. "She's like that but times a hundred."

Frankie's eyes widened at the thought of a hundred Cleos. "Woah."

"And she doesn't turn it off, either."

Coppelia crossed her arms. "Real cute, De Nile. But, you and I both know you've never could best me before and now won't be any different."

Realizing she was not going to go away any time soon, Cleo sighed. "I swear, half time I have no idea what you're on about."

"Soon, I will prove once and for all, who's the better ghoul." Coppelia looked down her nose at Cleo. "That is, unless you back out like you did last time."

"What?" She groaned and hit her head with her clipboard. "I dare you to make less sense."

"Admit it. I had you runnin' scared."

"I admit you're mental." Cleo muttered. "How did you even get in here?"

"You're going down, De Nile Your day of reckoning is nigh." With a dramatic flourish, Coppelia whorled around on her toes and sashayed out of the gym.

"What. A. Freak."

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><p>The lights of the rides outshone the stars and formed a glowing outline around the the pier. Old timey ragtime organ music that hadn't been changed since 1920's played over the crank of questionable carnival rides. The smell of sea salt and twice fried food was everywhere.<p>

"Ugh, what is that?" Cleo gagged when her boyfriend returned with a basket of crispy concession stand food on sticks. Each were covered in powered sugar to hide the fact that they looked like giant misshapen fish sticks.

"It's a fried candy bar." Deuce put a bit in his mouth while Cleo blanched. Inside the batter fried coating was a mess of brown and black goop.

"That looks disgusting!"

"It's really good." He licked a bit of powered sugar off his fingers. "You should try a piece." He tore off another piece. A long stringy trail of melted caramel and chocolate hung from it.

Cleo recoiled at the thought. "What? No." She took a step back, grinning despite herself. "I like my arteries unclogged, thank you."

He wrapped his arm around her waist and dragged her back. "Come on. Just one bite." He teased.

She clamped her mouth shut and tried to twist her head away. But to no avail.

Cleo sighed. "Oh, all right." She opened her mouth for him to feed it to her. Chewed thoughtfully on the bit of candy. The outside was crunchy and tasted like pancakes. The chocolate bar in the middle was chewy from being melted and starting to harden. She shivered with a sugar overload.

Deuce licked the excess chocolate off his fingers and popped the rest in his mouth. "So, what do you want do next?"

Cleo let herself relax in his arms. This was nice. It had been forever since they had done something like this. She looked up the Ferris wheel. "Hm... I think we should-"

"Well, well."

No.

Cleo's smile fell off her face in an instant. That settled it. Life was unfair and the universe was conspiring against her. That had be it. "Hello, Coppertone." Coppelia sauntered over. She had the smuggest grin on her face. Cleo had to admit was quite the feat considering she grew up with Nefera.

"Imagine running into you here." The mechanical ballerina towered her, using her en pointe pose to boost her up a few inches.

"Yeah. Imagine." Cleo rolled her eyes. "What did you do? Follow me?"

Coppelia looked Deuce over critically. She crossed her arms. "Wasting time, I see. Tell me how is that you can be so content being so second rate?"

Cleo rubbed her temples to soothe the throbbing headache she felt coming on. "You are a such a creeper, it's not even funny." She turned to Deuce. "Why do I attract the nut bars?" Deuce shrugged.

"Cece?" A soft german voice called.

"I think your mother's calling you." Cleo motioned behind her.

"Cece!" Her mother called again. Coppelia glared. Cleo may have won this round, but-

"This isn't over." She said while jabbing Cleo in the chest.

Cleo swatted her away. "I don't doubt that."

Coppelia closed her eyes and simulated taking a deep breath. The hostility in her face melted away. "Coming, Mother!"

"Seriously, what in the name of Aten is her deal?"

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><p>"Our two finalist are..." The announcer paused, not only for effect, but also a drum roll. "Miss Coppelia Coppelius!" Coppelia stepped out onto the stage into the spotlight and applause. Victory was almost hers. Only thing would make the moment sweeter. "And Miss Setepenre De Nile!" A true smile broke out on her face. She couldn't wait to see the look on her face when the judges awarded her, Coppelia Coppelius, the award and title of Pre-Teen Miss Pumpkin.<p>

But, no one stepped forward.

"Setepenre De Nile!" He called again. The spotlight started to feel hot; Coppelia became acutely aware of the eyes on her and whispers of the audience. The stage director darted on stage and whispered something into the announcer's ear.

"Oh." The announcer cleared his throat. "It appears Miss Setepenre has dropped out. Our winner and new Pre-Teen Miss Pumpkin is... Coppelia Coppelius!"

There was smattering of polite applause. A crown was placed on her head and someone handed her a bouquet of black roses. She tried to force a pageant smile, but the best she could muster was a tight grimace.

TBC


	2. And We Do This Back and Forth

Picking Scabs

Notes: Okay, Adaptations are really, really hard. Thought it would take me no time at all to rewrite all this, but... didn't quite work out that way.

Chapter Two: And We Do This Back and Forth

A Few Years Back

"Cleo! Wait up!" Deuce sped after the 13 year old girl as she whizzed off on her roller skates.

The sound of resin wheels across cobblestone echoed through the plaza. Cleo zipped past the old fashioned buildings, paying no heed to the other monsters leaping out her way. She skid to stop into front of an antique shop; she had to catch herself on the side of building to keep her feet from flying out from under her. She pressed her nose up against the glass, completely taken with the display in the window.

"You're out of shape." She commented as Deuce finally caught up to her, doubled over and trying to catch his breath.

He rolled his eyes. "Oh, excuse me for having to breathe." His breathing steadied and his heart rate returned to normal. "What are you looking at?"

"That." Cleo pointed at crown in the shop window. It was a small tiara formed from antique silver. Tiny gems made rose patterns along the twisted vines embossed in it. Cleo unconsciously fingered the circlet around her head.

Deuce looked up at the banner above it advertising an upcoming beauty pageant. "Huh."

"I am going to buy it." She declared before rolling on into the store.

"I don't think-" Before he could say anything, she was already in the door.

"Shopkeeper!" Cleo snapped her little fingers. "I'd like to procure the crown in the window."

The store owner looked up from below counter. He was a tiny hobbit-like man. The stark white hair growing out his ears was so long, it could have passed for sideburns. He pushed his bifocals up to get a better look at her. "I'm sorry, kid. But that isn't for sale."

Cleo screwed her face in a pout. Undeterred, she slid her gold bangles off her wrists and placed them on the counter. "Here. This should be more than enough to cover it."

"Look, kid. I'm not interested in your toy jewelry." He pushed them back to her. Red in the face, she snatched them, insulted he referred to her royal, one of kind, hand crafted jewels as toys. "You want the crown? Then you gotta enter the Miss Preteen Pumpkin pageant." He motioned to the poster up on the wall.

"Fine. I will enter this "_pageant" _thing! And I, Princess Setepenre of Akhn- I mean, De Nile, shall win."

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><p>Cleo lounged back on her daybed; notebook in one hand, pencil whirling around in the other. Her radio blasted Screeches latest album; Her foot beboped along to the beat. She was supposed to be drawing out new routines for the upcoming fear rally, but somehow she ended doodling, instead. The declaration she had made years was the farthest thing from her mind.<p>

As she put the finishing touches on a sketch of her with a fearleading trophy, standing triumphant over her rivals (her sister, Torelei, Coppelia, et cetera, et cetera) her gold studded cell started buzzing. It rattled to its way over to the edge of her night stand. Cleo rolled over and took it off the ledge before it could fall. "Hello?"

"Hey, Cleo." Came Deuce's voice from the other line. "You wanna do somethin' later?"

She examined her nails to play up being nonchalant about it, even though he couldn't see her through the phone. "Hm... What did you have in mind?"

"I was thinkin' maybe we could go see a movie or somethin'."

She tapped her chin. "What's playing?"

She heard him chuckle over the phone. "Doesn't matter." Her cheeks went red when she got caught his implication. Well, that was why she wanted to ride the Ferris Wheel the other night.

Not wanting to seem too eager, she bit back her answer. He needed to sweat it out a little and know she wouldn't automatically drop everything for him, even if she wasn't really doing anything at the moment. After all, she was a princess and the most popular ghoul in school, her time was precious.

"All right. That'll be fine, I guess. Give you the opportunity to make up for last night." She glanced over at her closet. What was she going to wear?

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><p>Deuce fidgeted in his seat. The combination of sitting in an unyielding stone seat and being alone in a ghoul's room- even if it belonged to his best friend- made him uncomfortable. "I don't see why I have to help you with this."<p>

"Because you are my friend and that what friends do." Cleo answered from inside her dressing room.

Deuce occupied himself with a game of kicking at the end table opposite of him, seeing how far he could move the vase on it. "But I don't know anything about beauty pageants."

"I am hearing a lot of complaining and not enough helping." The curtain flung open and Cleo stepped out dressed in a unitard covered in sparkling sequins. The spandex hugged her so close, in his 13 year old mind, she might as well not being wearing anything. And -Family not withstanding- it was the closest to naked a girl he had ever been. All he could do was sit there with his mouth agape like some sort of slack-jawed idiot.

"Anyways, what I need you to do isn't hard." She held his hands close. Without thinking about it, he backed up to keep her face from getting too close."I can count on you, right?"

Why was she always so warm? Her hands felt like they burned his flesh. "Yeah, sure." He twisted free. "Whatever." He darted off so fast, he didn't see her bottom lip start to quiver.

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><p>Cleo thumbed through the racks of clothes, not really looking at any of them. She wasn't seriously shopping. This was just a way to waste time until it was time to meet Deuce.<p>

"Hello, De_Ficit_." Cleo sighed. She was asking for it by coming to the Maul. If she really didn't want Coppelia to follow her around, she'd go some place less public, like the bottom of the ocean or, possibly Saturn.

"Always with the clever nicknames." She replied, not bothering to look up. This was getting rather tedious. "What is it now, Cece?"

"The time has come to prove, once and for all, who the better monster is." Coppelia pushed a flyer in front of her face.

"Kind of hard to see it when you've got it shoved up in my face." Cleo snatched it out of her hands. "The Miss Teen Graveyard Beauty Pageant?"

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><p>Deuce looked around the dressing room full of preteen ghouls teasing their huge bouffant hair. Being surrounded by sequins and tulle left him feeling uneasy for some reason. Something just felt wrong about the place. Although, it may have also been the fumes from all the cans of hair spray. "Are you sure about this, Cleo? Your folks could probably just buy you a crown."<p>

Cleo unwrapped the bandages from her face. "I've come too far to give up now." She brushed down her sidelock. Hopefully the fact that she didn't have as much hair as the others wouldn't count against her in the competition. She'd done her best to try and convince her father to finally let her cut it and wear wigs, but no such luck. Curse of being the youngest; parents refuse to let you grow up. "How do I look?"

Deuce's stomach flip flopped. Her large eyes blinked up at him as she waited for his answer. His throat went dry. "All right, I guess." He rubbed the back of his head and avoided her eyes. "I'm not really a good judge."

"Right." Cleo sucked in her bottom lip. Now was not a time; she had a contest to win. To refocus her mind, she surveyed the room to take stock of who she was up against. They were not a very impressive display of ghouls. They were practiced and polished until their outsides shined. But lacked the poise that came with a lifetime of high society training and noble birth. All superficial posture, no substance.

Yet, there was one who stood out from the rest. Something about the way she held herself set her apart like she was programmed to be graceful. The large wind up key slowly ticking counter clockwise on her back explained it all. For the briefest of moments, they locked eyes until the robot turned up her nose.

Cleo gasped, affronted. Oh, it was, as they say, on.

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><p>Cleo stared down at the flier, her hands trembling as it all came back to her. So long ago, it still left a dull ache in the empty cavity of her chest. She crumbled up the flier and stormed off, grateful the ability to cry left her centuries ago.<p>

"Hey!" Coppelia shouted after her. "Don't just walk away from me! Hey!" She started to run after her, but the mechanism in her back started to wind down to a halt. Oh, well. Her challenge had been issued.

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><p>Deuce stood outside a theater with the tickets in hand. The crowd of monsters waiting for their movies to start seating got smaller and smaller. He checked the time on his Icoffin. With a frown, he started to dial Cleo's number.<p>

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><p>She had just gotten home when her cell started to ring. Deuce's name, number, and a photo of them together at Skull Shores lit up her screen. Her hands were shaking as she hit "Ignore". She proceeded to turn off her phone and collapse onto her bed.<p>

Notes: It occurred to me that I should mention that this is sorta sequel to "Being Stupid" or at least follows right after it.


	3. Opening Old Wounds

Picking Scabs

A/N: A complete rewrite from what I had originally planned to write. I have no idea how this is going to end.

Chapter three: Opening Old Wounds

"I will be performing 'Prayer' from the ballet inspired by my creation 'Coppelia'."

Cleo watched from backstage as Coppelia began going through her routine. She had been right about grace being programmed into her. Her every step was absolutely flawless; she seemed to glide across the stage.

It caused her physical pain to admit it (even just to herself), but she was actually scared she might lose.

"Don't worry." Cleo turned to see Deuce walk up beside her. He put his hand on her shoulder. "You'll do fine." Trying to ignore the fluttering in her stomach, she started to thank him but, he pulled his hand away like he'd been burned. " 'Cuz, y'know... you practiced a lot."

She turned back to the stage and ignored the sharp pain in her chest. Coppelia ended her dance with a deep bow. The crowd leapt to their feet in a standing ovation. "With Ra as my witness, I swear I will beat that tinker toy, even if it's the last thing I do."

"I thought you wanted to win that crown."

She wrinkled her brow. "What crown?"

"Never mind." Deuce shook his head.

Her name was called by the stage manager. Showtime. Cleo took a deep breath to steady her nerves and strode to the stage with every ounce of confidence she could muster.

"Break a leg." Deuce called after her. She turned and shot him a weird look. "It's a figure of speech." He clarified. "It means 'good luck'."

She smiled. "Thank you." She stepped up to the edge of the stage, ready to make her grand entrance. "But luck is for talentless commoners."

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><p>"Hey, Cleo. I got the tickets. Um, just wondering wher-" <em>Deleted.<em>

"All right, I guess it's pretty clear you're not coming. Just gimme a call back and we'll-" _Deleted._

"Listen, if this is about something I did, then-"_ Deleted._

It might not have seemed like it, but she really was trying to listen to the messages. Yet, try as she might, she couldn't make it through a single one. Simply the sound of his voice made her chest ache more.

"Your day of reckoning is nigh, De N-" _Deleted._

Cleo sighed and closed her voicemail. She scrolled through her contacts list until his name came up. Not quite able to get herself to make that final step and call him, she stared at her phone long and hard.

She turned her phone off and tossed it to the side. She'd see him at school.

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><p>Cleo wiped her forehead as she got off the stage, the applause of the crowd still ringing in her ears. She did it!<p>

She glanced around for Deuce. He had helped her out so much with her routine, she couldn't wait to see his reaction. He should have been waiting for her by the stage, but she didn't see him anywhere.

There was nothing but teen ghouls all around her, crying their eyes out because they weren't finalists. Cleo frowned. He was the only boy there; he shouldn't have been that hard to find.

After exchanging sneers with Coppelia when they past each other, Cleo looked for her missing friend. A familiar hiss came from around the corner. She followed it to the back of the dressing room.

"Deuce?" Her insides turned to ice.

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><p>In a little clearing inside the forest near the airport, Cleo watched a airplane fly off overhead. Deuce had shown this place to her the first year she had moved there. They would sit and watch planes take off and land for hours. Not really doing anything, but being together.<p>

Cleo sighed.

"Oh." She jerked her head up and saw Deuce walking out of the woods. "Hey." He rubbed the back of his head and gave her a sheepish grin. "Didn't... expect to see you here."

Cleo kicked at a dead root, not caring dirt was getting on her one of a kind designer platforms. Okay, she cared a little, but not enough to stop and have to look up. "I came up here to think." She said quietly.

"Really? Me, too." He leaned back against a tree.

Neither of them said another word.

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><p>"Cleo, what's going on? They just called your name." She didn't say anything to him, didn't even look in his direction. Her stage make up was running down her face like she had been crying. "What happened?" He asked, instantly concerned. He had never seen her like this.<p>

She breezed past him like he wasn't even there.

"Cleo?"

A/N: I feel weird, because this was suppose to be the last chapter. So, it feels... incomplete


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